Question: Has The Inside been canceled? If it has, then I give up. What is the point of anyone investing their time in a new TV series if it's only going to get canceled after a few weeks? This seems to be a growing trend, and a trend that is causing me to rethink the concept of watching any new shows. The Inside had a legitimate shot at becoming a hit if it were given time. What is the hurry in canceling any show? It is not like they're going to replace it with anything other than reruns of long-in-the-tooth shows such as Malcolm in the Middle. After all, Fox has given that Ron Howard show (Arrested Development) so much opportunity to succeed, and yeah, it's critically acclaimed, but that show couldn't draw flies if it were shown at a garbage dump. Isn't this going to be the third year for Arrested Development? Everybody Loves Raymond and Seinfeld weren't hits when they started, but over time they developed a huge audience. Shows are being canceled too quickly.
Answer: Except,
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Question: I recently caught a Christmas episode of Spin City that featured Charlie Sheen. Some of the staff appeared to be in an orphanage distributing gifts. Is it me or was that little blonde girl (I think her name was Cindy) the same girl who was in Taken?
Answer: Good eye, Kayla. Taken's small wonder, Dakota Fanning, did indeed play wee Cindy in the "Toy Story" episode, which originally aired on Dec. 20, 2000. At that young age her other TV appearances already included ER, Ally McBeal, The Practice, CSI and Malcolm in the Middle.
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Question: I have always been a fan of your column and just love your taste in shows, but I was a little disappointed to hear that you have given up on comedies from network TV. I have been so loyal to certain comedies over the years, like the gems Everybody Loves Raymond, the dearly departed Friends and the laugh-out-loud riot Scrubs. But recently I have realized that networks are putting on more procedural dramas and reality shows than traditional 30-minute comedies. I admit I find myself watching sitcoms like Less than Perfect and Still Standing, which are both very mediocre, to fill my needs, but I miss the old sitcoms of yesteryear. My question, though, is that I have heard many good things about comedies coming this fall, like Everybody Hates Chris, How I Met Your Mother and Twins, and was wondering what you thought of them. I know that one of these fall seasons there will be a new comedy to love, like my old faves Roseanne and Mad About You. At least we still have Scrubs and ...
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Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz is getting hitched. The 19-year-old actor recently got engaged to his girlfriend, Jamie, whom he met while shooting the horror movie Staying Alive in New Orleans, People reports. Man, you just know Reese is gonna plan a wicked awesome bachelor party!
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Question: While it was great to see excellent shows like House and Deadwood recognized, we basically got the same old tired nominations for this year's Emmy Awards (Malcolm in the Middle?!). What's the truth? Are the voters lazy or clueless, or don't they own TVs that get more than four stations? Or do they just ignore outstanding shows like Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, Everwood and others because they are on WB or UPN? If that's the case, how can the awards and the academy claim to represent the best of television when members clearly lack the interest or ability to fulfill that obligation?
Answer: An excellent point. The Emmys would be so much better off if it allowed its nomination process to be overseen by a panel of experts both within and without the industry (including a few journalists, maybe?) who would attempt to represent the current state of the art, instead of falling back on the tried, trying and true. The continued apathy regarding the best of WB (and this year, a real
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For every drop of refreshing new blood in this year's Emmy field, there's a stubborn residue of tired old blood. The Emmy nominations are an annual rite of frustration in which every positive breakthrough is balanced by an aggravating snub.
This year is no different. As expected, last year's instant hits on ABC, Desperate Housewives and Lost, got their due, leading the comedy and drama pack respectively (although Housewives was tied with the academy's longtime, and inexplicable, darling Will & Grace with 15 nominations).
But because of the TV academy's regrettable devotion to faded perennials like Will & Grace, The West Wing and Si
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Actor William Sadler is best known for serious roles in films like The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. Still, the 54-year-old has a sense of humor. After all, he did play the Grim Reaper in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey! He taps into his funny side again in the new Fox comedy Wonderfalls (Fridays at 9 pm/ET). His role is Darrin, Jayne's loving yet outspoken father — and as Sadler points out, a young lady who converses with inanimate objects needs a firm parental hand.
"[Darrin] isn't like the father on Malcolm in the Middle, who is overtly wacky. He's more curmudgeonly," he tells TV Guide Online. "He's one of those conservative types, who works hard and cares a lot. He's a man of measured mirth, except f
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Cloris Leachman is certifiable. Um, certifiably funny, that is! On Sunday at 9 pm/ET, she's back as Grandma Ida on Malcolm in the Middle. The 78-year-old actress adores playing Jane Kaczmarek's mama — it's a role that's earned her three Emmy nods, including one win in 2002. Here, TV Guide Online attempts a phone interview with the zany Leachman, which is no mean feat, as you'll see!
TV Guide Online: Good afternoon?Leachman: Daniel? It's Leachman here. Let's keep this short. I want to go meet my daughter at the dog park.
TVGO: Sure! Tell us what Ida's doing on Malcolm this time.Leachman: This is one of the funniest episodes, if not the funniest one, I've done. It's about Grandma Ida's boyfriend. He's an unlikely person. It's a Chinese man! Oh, the dialogue is just rare. [Giggles
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On Sunday's Malcolm in the Middle, Lois got a surprise from the stork — the show's hot-tempered matriarch is pregnant with a fifth child! Funnily enough, actress Jane Kaczmarek and hubby Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) just welcomed daughter Mary Louisa in November. So why wasn't Kaczmarek's real-life pregnancy simply written into the show last year?
"The reality of it is Jane was pretty far along [in her pregnancy] when we started the [fourth] season for doing an 'I'm pregnant and playing it out,'" says exec producer Linwood Boomer. "We didn't have quite enough time to really plan out great episodes. Our lead time on the scripts is so far in advance.
"So," he conti
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